Men's Lacrosse: Siena captures rivalry game win over Albany, 13-12

ALBANY, N.Y. - Sophomore Bryan Neufeld scored three straight goals in the second half and assisted on the game winner as Siena buckled down in the closing seconds, defeating cross-town rival UAlbany 13-12 at John Fallon Field Tuesday evening.

It is Siena's (1-2) first win over UAlbany since the Great Danes made the move to Division I in 2000. The Saints had been 0-7 during that time.

UAlbany's (0-2) Derek Kreuzer gave his team a 1-0 lead at the 11:51 mark of the first quarter. It would be UAlbany's last as Siena jumped in front with goals by Chris Roth and Neufeld separated by just 16 seconds. UAlbany fought back to tie the game five different times, but Siena answered the bell each time.

After Matt Johnson pulled his team within one, Neufeld scored with 13 seconds left in the third quarter. It was the first of three straight he would score.

UAlbany pressured Siena heavily at the start of the fourth quarter. They took five shots in the first four minutes, but Herbst made two saves and the other three missed the mark.

Neufeld scored again off a feed from John Rogener with 9:51 left in the fourth quarter. On the play, Mark Kelly took a one-minute penalty for slashing. The Saints made him pay as Neufeld scored his fourth goal of the game and gave his team a seemingly insurmountable 12-8 lead. There was chaos in front of the UAlbany cage and Neufeld sprinted to the loose ball and quickly shot it in as he took a hit.

With 2 ½ minutes remaining, freshman Danny Martinsen picked up a loose ground ball at midfield and passed to Neufeld. Neufeld drew the last defender and moved the ball to Ryan Duggan who bounced it low past John Carroll.

UAlbany still had some fight and scored goals at the 1:40 and 1:17 marks. Herbst made two saves in the final 1:17 to preserve the win. The final flurry resulted in Herbst getting a piece of Brian Caufield's shot with two seconds left. It was eerily similar to the game last year when Resetarits scored with .3 seconds left to force overtime. But Herbst made the play, earning his team its first win of the season.

Herbst finished with 12 saves and Carroll had 10.

Senior midfielder Bryan Hale was crucial to Siena's success against UAlbany. He won 22-of-29 face-offs and logged heavy minutes on the defensive end of the field. He also scored a goal on his only shot of the game.

The Saints return to action this Saturday when they play Hartford in a doubleheader at Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y.